Archive

As per my last post (Read about it here) regarding the uneven tyre wear in the rear two tyres, after talking and consulting my friends and the workshop manager we concluded that the issue might be with the suspension bushes and we’d start with that. As I had no idea whether the suspension bushes were replaced in the last 13 years while it was with the previous owners and definitely it had not been done since I’ve had it, I decided to go ahead and start with changing the bushes.

Now the dilemma that came forward was whether to replace them with OEM Toyota Bushes or go for the after market available options. Initially I’d decided that I might go for the aftermarket available options but then I thought that I might never do hardcore off-roading with my vehicle as for me its primarily a long distance travel vehicle . Additionally the thing that scared me was that, if the problem were not sorted out by installing the aftermarket bushes and the tyres kept on wearing unevenly the workshop might say that, as I am not using OEM products and that can’t help me. At the same time the aftermarket vendors might say as I have not gone in for the complete suspension upgrade which might include the springs, shock absorber sets, etc etc they cant help me. Further more the complete suspension upgrade would have cost anything upwards of Rs.90K-100K and I was not in a mindset to spend that much amount at the present time. So finally last week I made the decision and sent the vehicle to the workshop to change the bushes with OEM ones.

Received the vehicle back on the 7th of February 2012. It was also found out that the Front Knuckle Left Side Stud was missing and they could not source it from their channel. So the left side stud was fabricated using the right side as a copy.

The initial impression is the vehicle has become very smooth especially over potholes and uneven roads. The uneven tyre were issue would have to wait untill the vehicle completes 10000 Kms, which would be done by the end of March 2012. In February I am off for the Maruti Suzuki Desert Storm in Rajasthan and Gujarat in which I anticipate that the vehicle would cover 3500-4000 Kms. Then in March I am travelling with my family to Mumbai and Goa which would cover another 4000-4500 Kms. Will update the thread then. In the meantime I am turning the tyres inside out so that I can gauge if the tyres still wear out unevenly.

The Final Bill came to a total of Rs.32,207.00 including a labor of Rs.7,545.

Post the Overhaul of the Fuel Injection Pump FIP and changing the Injection Nozzles I was eager to gauge the Fuel Efficiency (FE) of the vehicle. Since the Overhaul I have driven the vehicle for an approx distance of 2100 Kms which I think is a good measure for gauging the FE. I have measured the FE on a tank full to tank full basis. Further during this period I did a out station trip of 1062 KMs from Delhi- Jaipur-(off-roading 150kms) Sawai Madhopur- Delhi and the rest was 1 trip Del- Bhiwadi- Neemrana- Delhi (approx 300 Kms) 3 trips Delhi- Bhiwadi- Delhi (approx 190 KMS each) and rest local city driving.

On the Highway run (Jaipur & Sawai Madhopur) I was averaging speeds of 110-130 KMPH and did off-roading of 125-150 kms. This run gave me a FE of 7.96 KM/ Liter.

During the second round of driving I was averaging speeds of 80-90 KMPH and the TLC returned a FE of 9.95 KM/Liter.

Prior to the FIP overhaul the TLC was returning a FE of 7.00-7.50 KM/Liter with the best and worst being 8.35 and 6.90 KM/Liter. Therefore I think that the work has been satisfactorily done, but would still keep an eye out and would base my judgment once I’ve completed 5000 KMS post the overhaul.

Uneven Tyre wear

Another issue that has now cropped up is uneven tyre wear on the rear tyres. As can be seen from the enclosed pictures both the rear tyres are showing signs of uneven wear, which is to say that the rear left has uneven wear on the Left and same for the rear right which is wearing off from the right hand side. I am clueless as to what this issue might be. Have asked around in my friend circle and also on some Toyota Landcruiser Forums. The latter attribute this to low tyre pressure. I generally keep the tyre pressure at 30PSI on all 4 and they say that it should be atleast 38 PSI. My friends and also the workshop manager at Lakozy Toyota attribute this to the suspension and particularly to the suspension bushes. Have got the alignment and balancing of the vehicle checked regularly. Still working out the cause of this problem and hope to find a solution soon. These tyres were bought by me IInd hand and the previous owner had used them for an approx of 5K kms and since then I’ve used them for 20K Kms. The manufacturing date on the tyres are 3rd quarter of 2009.

Received the vehicle back from the workshop a couple of days back. the Fuel Injection Pump(FIP) has been overhauled and the Nozzles replaced.

The final bill came to a whooping Rs.40,120.00. I was expecting somewhere around 25K, however I had not anticipated the that the nozzles would be expensive. Along with the nozzles the next most expensive part is the FIP repair kit.

The feel and drive of the vehicle has definitely changed for the better and the smoke from the exhaust is also considerably less. I had done the tankful, and since then the vehicle has covered approximately 300 kms. Will do the next refill tomorrow and gauge the Fuel Efficiency.

Post the previous service interval, I had taken the vehicle for an outstation trip to Tordi, Rajasthan for some dune bashing and off-road fun. This was a three day trip and the TLC performed remarkably well during the entire trip both on and off-road.

However there were some parts that conked off during/ after the trip and I had to replace them after I came back to Delhi. The following was the job done

110295 kms on November 22, 2010

Power Steering Pump replaced

Brake Master Cylinder replaced

Rear Differential Seal Replaced

Oil Pressure Switch (This was not working since the day I bought the vehicle)

Hey Guys The ODO has now (as of today) crossed 111k kms and now reads approx 111030 kms . In the past couple of months I took the vehicle to the workshop thrice to sort out some small and big issues that are natural to crop up with the ownership of the vehicle especially when one buys a second hand or in my case a 3rd hand vehicle. Please do not misunderstand me as I am not cribbing or complaining, I am rather happy that these issues are cropping up as, as and when I am resolving these issues my vehicle is getting close to near perfection, atleast mechanically.

This particular maintenance/ update was carried on at 108105 Kms on 09th Of November 2010.

Fast forward to Friday 10th September 2010We had scheduled the work remaining the last time for today. This post you would have to excuse me for the crappy pics as I forgot to carry my camera and all pics are from the crappy phone cam!!!